Legal Aid gets rising number of clients

Recession brings more people in need of help as group faces its own woes

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
Published: February 14, 2009

The downturn in the economy has the group that provides legal help for the poor in North Carolina expecting more clients.

Yvette Stackhouse, the managing attorney of the Winston-Salem office of Legal Aid of North Carolina, said that her office is dealing with an growing number of mortgage foreclosures for its clients.

Her office is handling 75 mortgage-foreclosure cases, she said. In 2008, there were 140 cases. And in 2007, there were 50.

The increase in need comes as Legal Aid of North Carolina faces a drop in donations and grant money because of the recession, the Raleigh News & Observer reported Tuesday.

Attorney Victor Boone in Raleigh's Legal Aid office said that his office can't help everyone who comes there.

"We're seeing more unemployment-insurance appeals, foreclosures, efforts by creditors to collect," Boone said

In criminal matters, attorneys for the poor are guaranteed, but that doesn't include civil issues such as foreclosures, adoptions, child-custody issues, domestic violence and workplace discrimination.

Legal Aid of North Carolina has 23 offices around the state and a staff of 250.

George Hausen, Legal Aid's executive director, cut 20 part-time positions for lawyers who screen cases by phone, and froze contributions to retirement plans to make this year's $18 million budget.

Legal Aid still may have to close offices a day or two each month to balance its budget.

Stackhouse said that her office has not taken those steps. It has not laid off any staff member or lawyer, but it has a hiring freeze.

"We can always use more volunteers, especially private attorneys to handle foreclosure cases," Stackhouse said.

Legal Aid gets most of its money from the federal government, but leaders don't know what next year's grant will be. They also don't know how much they can expect from the state, given deep budget cuts that have been ordered.

The group also gets funding from interest earned on lawyers' trust accounts, which is collected by the N.C. State Bar. Legal Aid received nearly all of the $4 million earned this year.

■ Journal reporter John Hinton contributed to this article.